1. Technological Field
The present invention relates to secure medical data access systems, and, more particularly, to such medical data access systems that operate under emergency conditions.
2. Related Art
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), and most recently the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and February 2009 and April rulings by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) include standard of privacy regarding an individual's right to privacy regarding health care data. Under the provisions of HIPAA, ARRA, and the FTC, health information, with few exceptions, can only be shared with the express permission, advance consent, and authorization of the patient (or the patient's legal guardian, as appropriate), and when compromised, electronic notifications and, in some case, public notification, must be sent, and electronic audits performed.
If a patient is unconscious and has provided advance authorization and consent for a licensed health care provider to securely access and view health-related and protected health information with family, next-of-kin, friends, or others involved in the patient's emergency care if, in his/her judgment, it would be in the best interest of the patient.
In Florida, vehicle owners can securely store emergency contact information electronically, including the name and telephone number of at least one person, and link same to their driver's licenses (DL). A law enforcement officer or first responder, if they can locate a driver's license at an accident scene, can contact the Department of Motor Vehicles to obtain emergency contact (ECON) data. If not available and the vehicle occupants are unconscious or otherwise unable to communicate, notifying the family can be a challenge. ECON information is only available to police at a crash scene in the state of Florida.
NLETS, the National Law Enforcement Telecommunications System, can interface with Department of Motor Vehicle sites across the country and obtain emergency contact information, but only if linked to a vehicle's vehicle identification number (VIN) and with the driver's consent. However, medical data cannot be collected, stored, accessed, or shared via NLETS, which can cause a loss of critical time gaining access to critical healthcare data, such as allergies, blood type, and other medical data, including directives. Such data can save lives or improve the quality of life after a life-threatening event.
Therefore, it would be beneficial to provide a secure system and method for making both VIN and emergency medical data available on an as-needed basis to licensed emergency medical responders, in order that care be provided in a more efficient, safe, and secure fashion if such data can be voluntarily provided and stored in a secure and separate, non-law-enforcement repository, and linked to the NLETS secure infrastructure or a state's trauma or emergency room network.